Deltora Quest 4: Cry Of The Pyralis
by Seorix
Summary: Sequel to The Beginning. More attacks, and our brave three are worried. Why are they happening? They find clues to where part of the crystal is, and will track it down. Even if the crystal has only just been found by the Pyralis themselves...
1. Prologue

**Deltora Quest 4/2: Cry Of The Pyralis**

_OMG guys, I'm back! Does victory dance sorry I took so long, I had a plot outline but I needed to make more sense of it before I went plunging in headfirst and all. So sorry about that... at least I'm back, yes? And do you like the title? **Cry of the Pyralis**... you'll find out what it means soon. Hopefully. My third fic... second on this fandom... yay! I need more help from people though... ideas will be greatly appreciated..._

_Advertisement (This will be my last; I'll be taking them off in a week or so!): my story is up! Go to __h t t p / w w w . f i c t i o n p r e s s . c o m / r e a d . p h p ? s t o r y i d 1 8 6 9 5 5 7 , deleting the spaces in between. It'll be really confusing, I know, but please read and review. _

**Disclaimer: Hurroks aren't mine (they're Tamora Pierce's) and DQ is DEFINITELY not mine. I think you'd know whom they belong to, don't you?**

**Prologue: Mixed Bags**

Barda stopped and squinted into the sunrise, shielding his eyes against the blinding glare. One of his Hand-Chosen stood guard behind him, arms at the ready. There was no telling when a hurrok would attack again. Of course, Barda could defend himself, but this time he was armed with only a dagger – scant protection against the flying horse-creatures. "How long?" he grunted at the guard.

"I'm not sure, Barda. It was about two to three hours ago – there was only one witness, and he went gibbering down the road in that direction." He pointed vaguely towards the north of where they stood.

A faint stench of blood hung in the air, and patches of blood were spattered around the small fenced-in area. The local watchmen had found another hurrok-attack victim in the closed area, slashed from head to stomach like Kree.

Kree.

**Flashback**

_There is a foreign mineral here, the first voice proclaimed, staring at something half-buried in the mud._

_Of course, it could just be an unknown substance, the second voice piped up._

_No, it's not. I'm sure it's some sort of - third voice entrance._

_I suggest informing Vulcan. The second voice wavered with fear. Will he welcome the news? _

_It is a plausible idea. I am not sure... First voice again. _

_I will go. Third voice, always the brave one. _

_Always the brave one of our pack... _

_Which is why I am going. _

"_You were saying?" The Vulcan._

_There is a foreign mineral just at the door, All-Seeing. _

_She tells the truth: There is a jagged remnant of what seems to be a crystal of high diamond substance buried in the mud just slightly crossing the Second Sacred Barrier, facing the west. A High Pyralis._

"_I will see."_

_**End Flashback**_

Jasmine yawned, sitting down. "Morning," she greeted the others at the table: Lief, Barda, Marilen and Ranesh. The others greeted her in their different customs as they sat down to breakfast together.

"Is there any more information?" Barda asked the librarians. "I found something of my own as well."

"Why don't you go first, Barda?" Lief invited. "I heard it was another hurrok attack."

"It was," Barda confirmed. "The guards found the body this morning, on the dawn watch. It was slashed... like Kree's had been." He stopped, mentioning a touchy subject.

Jasmine looked unfazed; she knew Kree was still with her in heart and soul. "Carry on," she said, nibbling away at her warm bread.

"The body was that of a young man's – it had been slashed from head to stomach, just like Kree's had been. By the looks of things, he had died in about an hour from blood loss and rupture of about two to three main arteries. _(A/N: I know nothing about main arteries and stuff – I read up on it once last year, but I can't remember any of it now, sorry! A little help?) _The guards saw the hurrok flying in the direction of the west. This was all we could find out – I only spent an hour there, since the markets were open and the roads would be jammed with wagons and such." He bent his head and carried on eating.

Lief stopped, laying his spoon down to one side. "Marilen, Ranesh?" he asked, looking at the librarians. They laid down their spoons too and looked at him.

"There is no more information about the crystal, I'm afraid," Ranesh began gravely, "but Marilen has found a small article in the _Wilderness Records _about hurroks. They are purely magical creatures, and are very powerful" –

"Yeah, we've seen that first-hand," Barda muttered under his breath. "The sight of him!"

Ranesh carried on, not heeding Barda's comment. "They can only be summoned from the Underworlds by a necromancer – I have suspicions the Shadow Lord is the one – with extremely powerful spells. They are usually summoned in fours" –

"The number of death," Jasmine gasped, spoon clattering against her plate. "The number of Death!"

"They are relevant; they are, after all, birds of killing," Marilen added calmly. "It was expected."

"As I was saying, the creatures are summoned in fours, and tied by invisible bonds to the summoner. Hurroks also have a tendency to die easily – we have an advantage over them with that little fact – all we have to do is to –"

"Barda!" a guard rushed in, sending everyone at the table into a state of shock. The doors slammed open, and a red-faced, almost choking guard sprinted in. "The hurrok's just attacked again, near the West Gate! A little child was caught this time. She" – he swallowed a choke here – "didn't survive – the creature attacked in exactly the same pattern." They were supposed to be strong, but a few too many sights of blood could do that to you. But Hyatt was loyal – perhaps the most loyal in Barda's Hand-Chosen, which was why he had come, and not the others.

Barda, Lief and the others shot up from the table, sending the chairs smashing against the floor. "Let's go," Lief ordered his companions, running out, followed by the others.

"How old was she, what in the world was she doing there, and why would she be targeted?" Barda fired at Hyatt as he led the small group down a narrow passageway, leading to the West Gate.

"We're not sure," the man replied, pausing slightly. "But we do know this: she was barely eight, she was running errands – I'm not sure what – and for the last question... I have no idea."

"When did you see the hurrok, and what brought you to the scene of the crime?" Jasmine asked, targeting the felony itself.

"We saw the hurrok about thirty minutes earlier on – it was flying northwards, so we could only imagine it had come from the south. We were coming down from the north then, so we didn't know it was near the West Gate. One of the men from the nearby villages raised an alarm, finding the girl abandoned outside. We ran all the way there, and on finding the body, we knew what had happened. I took a horse and rode all the way to the marketplace, but I couldn't get through from there – there was a spat on and I didn't have time to break it up. We've left it behind now." He paused for a breath, gasping air into his lungs.

"You've done well," Barda congratulated, clapping him one on the back. "You deserve to be one of the Hand-Chosen."

"Ah, but nobody could ever be as good as you," Jasmine panted, the toll of running through countless streets finally showing. Marilen and Ranesh had long been left behind, but they would be perfectly fine – they knew the way to the palace.

Barda grew red. "No need for those kinds of remarks," he muttered, running on ahead.

Finally they reached a roped-off area, just in front of the West Gate. "We left a little passageway through that end" – Hyatt pointed down to the far end – "To let people out of the city. In the meantime, I told the men to mark an area as small as possible so it would not hinder the people. It turned out that this was the smallest area possible." He grinned ironically. "The hurrok had left trails and blood everywhere."

Jasmine grew pale. "And the girl?" she asked, panting slightly.

"She has been removed, but the position of her body and such has been preserved." He pointed to an area sprinkled with what looked like a white, almost filmy powder. "Only the Truth-Spell can unlock it."

"Great thinking, Hyatt," Barda congratulated, looking grim. "This will give us an advantage against the Shadow Lord."

"And... what gives you that idea?" one of the guards stood between them, hands on his sabre.

"The fact that the hurrok would have turned in a circle before flying off to its direction. The claw marks in the ground will point to the direction it was heading, as well as its aim: to defend or to attack – again." Hyatt looked pleased with himself. "Am I wrong?"

"No," Jasmine said. "You are perfectly right – this will aid us greatly."

Lief smiled. They had a bitter end, but a great beginning.

_So, do you guys like it? It's the first chapter of the DQ4 series' second fic(my edition!) and I'm really looking forward to writing this... hahah! I'll be on a happiness high for the rest of the day!_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Roki: **And thanks to you for making my day:) I suggest not reading my first DQ fic: I was kinda possessed while writing it, and it's really bad. I mean, really bad. And with Barda: I wrote him exactly as Emily Rodda wrote him – it's what everyone does, isn't it?_

_I know I wrote really slowly and I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry about it...But I'm here with the next chapter! -Claps herself on the back- great job; just gotta get the timing right... and the length... Sorry about my writing; I've been sucked dry of imagination, writing my story and these two fanfictions... and my poems. Phew! _

**Cry Of The Pyralis – Chapter 1: **

The sun shone unrelentingly upon the trio, illuminating their differentiating figures in golden light.

"Three attacks so far... Kree, the man and the girl..." Jasmine mused, staring out at the sparkling sea. "Is it not suspicious? Somebody wants us to do something, or somebody wants to do something to us..." her raven hair flicked teasing strands at her face, reaching nonexistent hands into the nothingness. "I suspect it's the latter. A warning, perhaps?"

"It isn't likely," Barda commented, seating himself on the dusty grass. "There may be other clues that we haven't noticed yet..."

"They were both locals?" Lief interrupted. "They were of varying ages, and they were of both genders. What information can we get from that?" he snapped, obviously frustrated. "Here my subjects are dying in agony and I can't even do anything about it!"

Jasmine glanced at him, then padded to his side, placing cool hands on his temples to soothe him. "At least these attacks are nowhere near a repetition of the Toran Plague," she reasoned, trying to calm him down. "Look at the silver lining in the cloud, Lief. We'll be able to figure this out; we've faced much worse things before."

"What will happen if we cannot?"

"We can, and we will," promised Barda grimly. "If one of us is attacked, the rest will stand up against the foe; I'll make sure of that."

"See, Lief? Everyone is on your side; they are as scared of it –"

"I'm not scared of it. All I want to do is defeat it."

"The Shadow Lord, perhaps?" Jasmine mused out loud, playing finger-paw tag with a chattering Filli. "But would he not attack the land so that many people die at once?"

"I suggest we go back to the Palace and search for more information, or travel to the marketplace for supplies – it will be best if we search for the culprits quickly."

"And what of those who want the Belt?" Jasmine asked, voice quivering uncertainly. "Would they not lie in wait at the marketplace?" Filli squeaked in alarm, chasing her hair up to her shoulder and back down her shirt.

"We'll be ready for them," muttered Barda grimly, standing up. His height commanded submission from most around him... and that included his two best comrades.

They walked up to the palace together, feet marching exactly in rhythm.

* * *

_The unidentified substance has been neutralized – placed in molten lava at the core of the volcano,> one declared, hovering uncertainly at the mouth of the dark, crimson tunnel. Anything else you request for, Almighty?>_

_Nothing, save this: Make sure it is under _lock and key_ at all times: this could prove fatal to the bearer.> The voice rang with authority and power, and the Pyralis trembled under his gaze, a thin, high-pitched cry leeching itself out of their nonexistent throats. _

_We will make sure of it, high Vulcan. >_

_Good – make sure the entrance is blocked afterwards.>_

_As soon as humanly possible?>_

_As soon as _in_humanly possible.> The voice smirked. Go now. >

* * *

_

"We leave now," Lief muttered to the pair, snapping the cord with a pocketknife. "Jasmine, you take this." He handed her the parcel, half unwrapped. "Make sure you divide it between all three of us – they're named so that we get all that we need." His hands jittered with the late autumn's frosty breath, and he almost dropped the precious items as the young woman took them from him.

"You're crazy," Barda breathed. "You expect all that to go into our packs?"

"It needs to – I bought only the necessities, you made sure of that. Some of them are compressible – make good use of it. We meet out here in five minutes." Lief smiled, and soon only the whistling winds danced upon the steps of the grand palace.

* * *

_All right guys, I know that was _really_ unbearably short... and I'm _really, really_ sorry! I can't get any inspiration, all right? I'll leave this chapter and move onto the next one... any ideas? I can't update until I get ideas! Maybe I should move onto the Pyralis...And I'll explain more about them in the following chapters. Vous sont contente, non?_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Dragon Night?**

"Edan Volcano..." Jasmine muttered, checking the map. "Edan Volcano?"

"Why?" Lief asked, matching step with the young woman. They had been riding Ivory, Mask and Terrat for a few hours now – Honey, Bella and Swift had been taken to the stables to be groomed after the Dragon Night celebration.

"Why is it Edan Volcano?" Jasmine asked, furrowing her brow.

"Any connotations?" Barda asked dryly. "Of course, there's Lief's great-grandfather, his childhood tutor, my childhood best friend, the Shadow Lord's first name –"

"The Shadow Lord?" Jasmine and Lief exclaimed at once, pulling their reins in to stare at Barda, horrified.

"Why didn't you tell us beforehand?" Lief demanded, bringing Terrat in closer.

Barda shrugged. "You were busy, so I told myself I would tell you later... I guess I forgot."

Jasmine shook her head. "I can't believe it. The Shadow Lord's name was Edan?"

Lief nodded. "Edan means fire in the old language."

"How did you find out?" Jasmine asked softly, wishing the information would be false.

"There are many clues in the Deltora Annals pointing to the Shadow Lord's identity – I guess no one saw them before."

Lief began, "But how –"

"I suggest we start riding again," Jasmine muttered hurriedly. "I see dust behind us, and I don't think it's from the wind."

"Let's go," Lief urged, nudging his mount into a gallop.

"To the southwest – near the _(A/N: Insert relevant landmark here or e-mail me) _we'll ride," Barda ordered, and turned his horse to the mentioned landmark.

Behind them, a mirage wavered slightly. _I wonder if they're onto it yet... _it thought, blending in with the blue sky.

And yes, it was the spirit who had called up the imaginary dust to get them going again. _This is fun!_

_00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000_

Something stirred between the bare, dying branches, making Lief snap his head round to stare at it.

Nothing was there.

The further they went, the direr the situation was: drought was here, and it wasn't leaving. It fact, it had settled here – hadn't it been affected by the first Dragon Night?

"Maybe this land was already suffering from drought before the Sisters were brought to Deltora," Jasmine suggested almost incoherently, seeming to read his thoughts.

"Maybe," Barda agreed nervously. This land was hostile – it wasn't going to help them in any way.

"Let's find shelter or something for the night and carry on tomorrow – I think we're almost there," Lief suggested, checking the map again.

"How do you know if –" she stopped herself in time, clapping a hand over her mouth. "How do you know if the crystal's there?"

Lief paused. "The Belt calls it," he said with a confused glance. "But how?"

"You do not know all that the Belt can do – besides all the other things it does. But the things we know for now are these: the Belt can't cast spells, it can't make mirages, only clear them, the amethyst and emerald can heal, and a whole lot of things otherwise." Barda grinned. "A lot, I guess." They rode on, through the dying mass of trees and foliage.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

They passed a village about an hour later, starved and dusty. Pale, haggard faces stared out at them from the shadows of the doorways, and the stink of death was everywhere. Jasmine looked around disbelievingly. This land was _hers, _in a way, and yet... and yet she hadn't known. She glanced at Lief, seeing the same hurt expression on his face... only worse. This land _was_ his.

"We can fix this," Barda muttered to the two beside him, more to himself than to them. "We can fix this, you two – this is the reason why we're here, remember?"

Jasmine nodded with a tiny smile. "It is," she agreed.

They made camp on the edge of the village, trying to ignore the pleading eyes staring at them.

Soon, the fire beads were scattered over the scant pieces of wood, and the trio sat down to have dinner.

Soon, the frail, haggard people crept around the fire, thin, spindly fingers prodding at the three. "You... food?" an old man asked, voice cracking as it threatened to spill contained emotions.

Lief turned, glancing at their supplies. He turned to Barda. "It's the only thing we can do for now to help them," he muttered, grabbing the bags.

"Thank you," the man croaked, evenly dividing the food between the ten other people that were there.

"Aren't there any others in the village? It looked like it could hold about thirty," Jasmine asked, looking down at her food.

"Dead," a young girl whispered. "All dead. My family. Mum, dad, sister, brother..." she trailed off; face devoid of any emotion.

The young woman felt tears sting her eyes. "I'm – I'm sorry." Her voice wobbled as she remembered her lonely days of living in the woods. "I know what it feels like."

"Sad days now – not four years ago. Four year ago we happy, full. Now... now we die," the old man proclaimed, nibbling at his food. "Land dry up – wells bye bye. Rivers and streams dry up – fish die too. Everything die." He turned away, voice cracking.

"But what about Dragon Night –" Lief stopped, suddenly realizing.

"The Sisters blocked it for the time, like Jasmine mentioned before," Barda muttered, voicing his thoughts exactly.

Jasmine stood up, saddling her horse. "I don't want to do this anymore – I want to stay and help them." She stared at something unseen, turning her head as if in a trance, then turned Ivory towards the invisible... thing. She hopped onto the grey mare, going off in a high-speed gallop.

Lief and Barda looked at each other in a panic. "There's something afoot," Barda muttered, standing up and running after them.

They watched her disappear into a grayish haze at the edge of the trees... then, as they tried to follow, the haze disappeared altogether.

Lief panicked.

_(A/N: I know that was really short, but I was... lost. A bit. Sorry, I'll try do more tomorrow!)_


End file.
